Cabrio top damage....OUCH!

[DeltaBravo]

,

This just happened yesterday. The right side of the main frame for the convertible top has cracked completely through with caused the vertical weather stripe rail to bend as well. 1988 Porsche 911 Cabriolet.

I've search the threads here and found several people have referred others to a company called dC Automotive, which I've looked into and hopefully they can help. But, are there any others out there? Or are they the only ones?

Also, since I'm on a limited budget and plan on doing this myself any advise or referrals is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[patz]

Take it to a welder. They may be able to repair it.

[RSBob]

DC Automotive may have used pieces for sale or other auto- recyclers (formerly known as junk yards). Do a search on auto recyclers and list your part needed, probably the whole frame, and you will receive bids back. Good luck.

[geoz]

Check first if you can find a spare.
I think mine was also welded at some point, not sure who can do that since these are alloy castings.

[vintagecarlover]

Take it to a wheel repair shop. They weld alloys every day and have the right rods. Alum rods don't work

[DeltaBravo]

Thanks for the responses. I really don't want to have it welded...I will if that is the only way. But more importantly is "how to" removed and install this part? Do I need to dissemble the entire top? or just enough to get it out?...

Any good books or guides out there for convertible tops?

Or, anyone in the Los Angeles area that you would recommend to perform this work?...if I go that route.

Thanks again.

[gduke2010]

Should be easy to find a part at Dc Auto. My right side now broke several years ago. It pocket a hole through the top fabric. The reason why it broke was, the top was out of alignment, the motors
and cables old. That's probably what caused your part to break, being out of alignment putting stress on the part.

So, make sure everything is aligned and working before using your top. They're not easy to align and if not aligned with everything working, the bow can break. I just open and close mine manually and use the roller latches to lock

[ystarrev]

BTDT.

Its not that hard to R&R the piece and have it welded. Replacement piece was hard to find or very $$$.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/553481-broken-top-bow-88-cabriolet.html

[geoz]

There is a chapter on the top in the factory manual but I don't think it talks about replacing parts of the top. From memory it is pretty self-evident.

[wachuko]

Most importantly is to find out why it broke and fix that as well. This was happening on the 964 and it was due to the nuts on the mechanism coming loose.

Several dismantlers available. DC is one LA Dismantlers is another... Do a google search on it.

[zedsn]

Many had had this top bow issue and after they have their bow repaired they just make the top open and close manually so this doesn't happen again. Like someone else stated your top is out of alignment from a bad motor and or cables which is very pricey to have fixed.

[Dan J]

Take it apart and weld it

[DeltaBravo]

Well...

I believe the general concenses is;

1) Figure out "why" is broke and fix that first.
2) It should be very straight forward and easy to remove and replace.
3) Have it welded.
4) and lastly...kinda related to the first point, most of what I'm seeing and reading is convert it to a "manual" top.

If I convert it to a manual top, can I just get away with removing the motors out of the system and keeping the automatic locks? Or do I need to completely covert it to manual locks as well?

[DeltaBravo]

Originally Posted by wachuko

Most importantly is to find out why it broke and fix that as well. This was happening on the 964 and it was due to the nuts on the mechanism coming loose.

Several dismantlers available. DC is one LA Dismantlers is another... Do a google search on it.

Thanks for the LA reference.

[tdw28210]

LA Dismantlers guys have been cool to me. Good luck.

[wayne robson]

Hi DeltaBravo, just in case this helps you,for sale on ebay,but i am sorry i
am not good on computor i can not drag these from ebay, take alook
these are the item numbers.
-----181957308700----252188849772----370840285550---231119880710
something here may help,can get my wife to paste these and other parts in 8 hours as it is
1.00am here now.If you ever find something at --Specalized german in Rancho Cordova
By Sacramento i have a friend that could inspect them for you. regards Wayne, Australia.

[david482]

I had a similar issue with my power top. Main Bow broke. I have since disconnected the power top, the locks still work and just open it manually. From what I was able to find the part is really expensive upwards of $800-$1K. I was luck in that mine cracked but very cleanly and no other damage. This was a few years ago and I had planned to get it welded but taking it apart seemed a much bigger job than I expected. So far I am just carful when I open and close it and have had no issues. I figure when I need to replace the top I will fix it unless something else happens.

[wachuko]

Originally Posted by DeltaBravo

Thanks for the LA reference.

Here my thread (on another forum) when I fixed mine... I caught it in time before it damaged the parts that broke on your car...

Cabrio Top Mechanism Problems - Rennlist Discussion Forums

[famoroso]

Originally Posted by david482

I had a similar issue with my power top. Main Bow broke. I have since disconnected the power top, the locks still work and just open it manually. From what I was able to find the part is really expensive upwards of $800-$1K. I was luck in that mine cracked but very cleanly and no other damage. This was a few years ago and I had planned to get it welded but taking it apart seemed a much bigger job than I expected. So far I am just carful when I open and close it and have had no issues. I figure when I need to replace the top I will fix it unless something else happens.

Is this as simple as disconnecting the transmissions, removing them entirely, or...?

I really wish my car had a manual top. One of the linked threads refers to "robust mechanism." I don't know, seems kinda Rube Goldberg to me. The original owner could have spent that $2,426 elsewhere on some other options!

[wachuko]

Originally Posted by famoroso

Is this as simple as disconnecting the transmissions, removing them entirely, or...?

I really wish my car had a manual top. One of the linked threads refers to "robust mechanism." I don't know, seems kinda Rube Goldberg to me. The original owner could have spent that $2,426 elsewhere on some other options!

Follow the link I provided. As simple as loosening the middle bolt in each transmission...but you still need to make sure that the bolts holding the transmissions in place need to be tight. The manual operation just avoids the electric motors from damaging the top. If everything is not properly tight you can still break it opening the top manually